Ticel Biopark III in Coimbatore, the third such park in Tamil Nadu, is expected to be ready in 18 months, said Tamil Nadu Industry Secretary CV Sankar.

Tamil Nadu was one of the first States to establish a biopark (Ticel I) for pharmaceutical and life science sectors in 2004, he said at the Indo-US Partnership Conclave – the march towards $500 billion trade – organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

Project cost Ticel Bio Park-I was established in technical collaboration with Cornell University of the US at a cost of ₹54 crore in 2004. The second park was inaugurated at a cost of ₹168 crore. Work on the third on the Anna University campus in Coimbatore has begun and the project cost is estimated at ₹55 crore.

Sankar said Tamil Nadu has established itself as a major destination in sectors such as automobile manufacturing, information technology and pharmaceutical. “However, electronic hardware kind of things is what we need to do more in this State,” he said, wooing potential US-based investors.

Joint ventures The State has a joint venture with Hindustan Life Care. They have an integrated vaccine project of around ₹600 crore in Chengelput near Chennai. It is also planning a medical park.

“We are working on joint ventures with one of the Central government enterprises for large-scale pharmaceutical ingredient parks and also in medical devices,” Sankar said.

On aerospace and defence sectors, Sankar said Sipcot and Tidco are jointly developing an aerospace park between Sriperumbudur and Oragadam on around 250 acres of land with additional land available for further development. Already, 14 companies have been allotted land, and they will supply to tier I and II companies. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had made an announcement regarding an advanced design and computing centre, which is being set up at the upcoming aerospace park to be used by companies located in the park.

“It will be unique selling proposition of this aerospace park,” he said. The State has nearly 90 aerospace-related companies, he added.

$4-billion FDI Industry Minister MC Sampath said there are around 250 US-based companies, including Ford, Dell, Visteon and Cognizant, operating in the State having brought in cumulative foreign director investment (FDI) of nearly $4 billion. These companies are providing direct employment to nearly 1.75 lakh people and indirectly to nearly 2.50 lakh.

Tamil Nadu is one of the most preferred investment destinations, he said.

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